Though, from the sound of his radio communications, Romain Grosjean wants to be anywhere other than Haas in 2018, the Frenchman seemingly never happy with a single aspect of his car - especially the ******* brakes - he will be staying put next season, as will teammate Kevin Magnussen.

"We will run with the same drivers that we have this year again next year," team owner Gene Haas told the official F1 website. "That is a given. And given the other continuity aspects, we should be better racers next season."

Admitting that the "honeymoon is over", Haas is looking for a stronger run-in to the current season than last year. Having scored points on its debut, and again in the second race, other than Russia and Austria the American team suffered a difficult baptism and the second half of the season saw it score just one point... at its home race.

"It cannot get worse that in the second half of 2016," says Haas. "even if we only score one more point we would be on the plus side!

"My guess is that we will score at least another 29 points. And next year, without a big car or engine change, and with the drivers the same, that should give us a nice continuity boost."

Currently, the US outfit is on 29 points, the same as its 2016 debut season tally, though, unlike last year, both drivers are contributing to the pot.

Asked if he felt the decision to drop Esteban Gutierrez was correct, Haas said: "Esteban was a good driver. He was as fast as Romain in practice, but I think that Kevin has an edge in terms of race experience. He can score points and that was the key for bringing him on board.

"Kevin can grab points and Romain can too. We now have 29 points. Last year around this time we also had 29 points, but did not score for the rest of the season. So now if we can score another 29 points by Abu Dhabi, that would be a great position."

On the other hand, with Grosjean scoring all the team's points in 2016, this year he has scored only 18, while Magnussen has scored 11.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by F1 Yank, 27/07/2017 15:59

"I will second Barslug's comment. Haas seemed to bounce around with the braking system from Brembo to Carbon industries at times since Grosjean was having trouble adapting. His comments were also not positive."

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2. Posted by Barslug, 22/07/2017 18:52

"Points or no, I can't believe they are retaining Grosjean after his despicable behavior with his team this year. I'm sure there are plenty of talented, deserving drivers out there that would love the chance to race in F1. Apparently you CAN bite the hand that feeds you."

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Haas to retain Grosjean and Magnussen

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